The Wassoulou Empire, sometimes referred to as the Mandinka Empire, was a short-lived (1878–1898) empire of West Africa built from the conquests of Dyula ruler Samori Touré and destroyed by the French colonial army.
In 1864, Toucouleur ruler El Hajj Umar Tall died near Bandiagara, leaving the then-dominant Toucouleur Empire tottering and a number of chiefs rushing to break their own pieces away from the newly-weakened federation. By far the most successful among them was Samori Ture of what is now southwestern Guinea.
Read more about Wassoulou Empire: Army Organization, Expansion, The Mandingo Wars
Famous quotes containing the word empire:
“Positively I sit here, and look at Europe sink, first one deck disappearing, then another, and the whole ship slowly plunging bow-down into the abyss; until the nightmare gets to be howling. The Roman Empire was a trifle to it.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)